BookClocks - Irish Times 'Best Album of 2013'The utterly unique Julie Feeney makes her first appearance in the Grainstore, but not her first visit to Ballymaloe - she made the video for Dear John in our gardens!Dear John is from Julie’s third album, Clocks, which went straight to No. 1 in the Independent Irish Album Chart. It was voted ‘Best Album’ in The Irish Times ‘Album of the Year’ category and it was also shortlisted for the Choice Music Prize. Julie is winner of the Choice Music Prize for ‘Irish Album of the Year’ for her self-produced debut album 13 Songs on which she played most of the instruments herself.Her second album pages was shortlisted for the Irish Album Of The Year prize and featured in ’101 Irish Albums You Must Hear Before You Die’ by Liberties Press. Clocks was released in 2013 in Germany, U.K. and the U.S. She composed the libretto and score for her first opera BIRD as well as full orchestral scores for Clocks.Julie's sell-out shows on both sides of the Atlantic have received rave reviews for combining her “mesmerizing stage presence and eccentric pop genius” (Hot Press) with her unquestionably original sound. Her innovative, avant-garde approach, while rooted in classical music, straddles both the pop and theatrical worlds.For her recent sell-out 10 show run in New York City at IAC, the New York Times said of Julie, “…intricate, articulate…draws on sources across centuries… Ms. Feeney’s songs don’t shout. They tease, ponder, reminisce, philosophize and invent parables, and she sings them in a plush, changeable mezzo-soprano that usually holds a kindly twinkle… Theatrical on the shell, intricate at the core”.She released Clocks around Ireland on a very novel tour where she scored her music for 10 different choirs for shows over 10 consecutive nights in 10 different towns. Sharp witted, unpretentious and fiercely passionate, Julie Feeney is a genuine artist and a hugely enjoyable performer.
